Beyond Shadows
by EmpressoftheNight
Summary: Tells the story of a night elf holy priest and his companions. This will eventually have many chapters. 'Tis my first fanfic ever so all feedback is appreciated!


**Part 1**

Given a choice, during those restless nights at distant inns or desolate campsites, where the only sound is the persistent snoring of my traveling companion, I would prefer to remember my life as it was _then_, before the events that shaped me and made me as I am today. I would remember my parents' house in Astraanar, humble yet cozy, my mother sewing dresses and other garments to sell or to donate to the priestesses at the temple, my father, a retired veteran of the Darnassian army. My bright-eyed baby brother, a mere toddler at the time, loved to venture into the forests behind our home and clumsily chase after squirrels and other woodland creatures, giggling happily the entire time. My younger sister, a headstrong and rebellious teenager, questioned all aspects of night elf society and tradition, yet was still wildly excited about my upcoming wedding, and would help with whatever task my fiancée asked, without hesitation or complaint. Mostly, I would remember my Sophya, my beautiful priestess filled with light, laughter, and compassion. It was she who made my dreary, monotonous days of military training worthwhile, with promises of midnight trysts in the forests behind my home or along the shores of the nearby lake. I would remember those cool moonlit evenings, walking hand-in-hand, the breeze rustling through our hair. Sometimes she would comb through my hair with her fingers or tie some of it back with a silver clasp if it would get in my eyes. Oh, how I reveled at her touch. Other times, I would spot plants and herbs, and she would listen with interest as I told her of their medicinal uses. This meant much to me, as she was the only one that knew the truth that herbalism, and not the military was my true calling in life. Honestly, I had little interest in the glory and honor in battle that my parents have been speaking to me of for my entire life. I despised bloodshed and war, and would much rather heal than harm, restore life than end it. However, being the dutiful son that I was, I could not bear to shame my father by following the path of a healer, could not bear to submit him to the mocking laughter of his old military comrades, who would no doubt torment him about his "cowardly" son. My sister's insolence was hard enough for my parents to deal with, her violent outbursts and refusal to offer prayers to Elune often brought my mother to tears. No, I could not bring them more stress. Besides, the steady income from my duties as a patroller enabled me to put money aside for a ring for Sophya, money aside for a traditional wedding that I knew my parents could not afford, but would want me to have anyway. The happiness of my loved ones did much to over-ride my feelings of boredom and disgust at wearing hot, uncomfortable chain armor and hacking away at foes with a giant axe, and inwardly I was content. I wonder if I shall ever feel truly content again, for as hard as I try to conjure up memories of these, the happiest days of my life, they elude my grasp, slipping through it like sand, when I reach for them, trying to hold them dear for comfort. Instead, they are replaced by reality, a reality that is colder, sharper, and deadlier than my axe ever was. A reality where my sister is bitter, vengeful, filled with hatred, living in the woods like a wild woman, with no home of her own. A reality where I will never be able to look into the joyful eyes of my baby brother again. A reality where the memories of _that_ day play over and over again, filling my nights with sleeplessness and anguish.

_That_ day occurred two weeks before the date of my wedding. A humid summer day, where Sophya, my parents and sister went to Darnassus to finalize wedding arrangements. I was tired from patrolling the night before, and although the thought of being married to Sophya and spending time with her every day thrilled me, the arrangements for the actual wedding ceremony, did not, and I felt that they were best left in the more capable hands of my parents and Sophya, who seemed to enjoy planning and perfecting even the most minor details of food, clothing, and decorations. _That_ day, I was more than happy to stay home and keep an eye on my brother, to frolic with him in the grass, wearing simple linen garments rather than my armor. To daydream, while he napped, of Sophya. I knew she would look stunning no matter what she chose to wear for the ceremony, and I wished she and my mother would not stress so much about creating the most elaborate gown possible. I laughed to myself as I remembered my mother's face when my sister proclaimed that _if_ she ever got married, it would be in the forest, not in the Temple of the Moon, and she would wear no gown only a robe made of leather that she would make for herself. I felt certain that my sister would eventually outgrow this argumentative phase. I looked forward to immediately after the ceremony when Sophya and I would depart for our honeymoon in Feralas. I had offered to take her anywhere she wanted, to the exotic jungles of Stranglethorn Vale on the other side of the world, or to the majestic mountains of Aerie peak to see the famous tamed gryphons there. But she was simple hearted and did not desire such a long, taxing journey. She preferred to remain close to her homeland, close to her sisters in the temple. She wanted nothing more than to make the journey to Feralas on foot, a sort of extended version of our midnight walks, to see all the sights of the forests, to help me gather herbs, to sleep with me under the stars, alone in the ancient forests, a prospect, which I must admit, excited me on many levels. After the honeymoon, we would be living in a small home by the sea in Auberdine, halfway between my family in Astraanar, and the Temple in Darnassus. I would continue my military work, but I would also begin to study alchemy, the art of using herbs to make potions. Sophya would not permit me to continue earning a living in a way that she insisted made me miserable. It was her idea that perhaps I could come up with a way to make an elixir that would increase strength in battle, something that would earn me the respect of my father and the military, but be a bit more meaningful to me, and eventually allow me to cease fighting and just come up with potions for the military. It was an idea that appealed to me greatly, and another reminder of what a great influence Sophya was on my life. At some point, I must have dozed off, because by the time I awoke, night had already fallen. I was somewhat perturbed because my family and Sophya should have returned by now, but I knew from experience just how time consuming these trips could become, with my mother sometimes remembering last minute something else that was needed for the wedding. I began to cook some herb baked eggs and spiced bread for my brother and me to eat. Another hour passed, and still they did not return. I picked up my brother and went outside, walked a little until I reached the center of town, where I saw a few of my neighbors gathered. As I approached I heard them talking excitedly about rumors of a Tauren raid on Auberdine. Supposedly, a sentinel had gathered some information while shadowmelded, that the Tauren had planned on striking Auberdine this evening. Nobody knew if the rumors were true or not, and a few sentinels and nightsabers had been dispatched to Auberdine to learn more. At that point, I felt a sickening sensation rise in my stomach, a terrible sense of foreboding. Normally, when my parents returned from Darnassus, they would ride the hippogryph directly from Darnassus to Astranaar, but the past few times they had taken the boat from Darnassus to Auberdine to check up on my new house there before taking the hippogryph back to Astranaar. I also knew that Sophya enjoyed the boats, the smell of the sea, and if she were with them, the likelihood of them taking the boat, increased. I wanted desperately to go to Auberdine myself, to see if I could learn anything, but hippogryph flights there had been suspended and I knew that I could not make the journey on foot, with my brother in tow. So I was left to wait and pray to Elune, with tears in my eyes, that they had not taken the boat. Minutes creeped by agonizingly, hours were a veritable eternity. Neither my family, nor the sentinels sent to Auberdine returned. Still I waited, pacing on the grass behind my house, and then around midnight, I sensed movement coming from the forest. I instinctively reached for my axe, which was not strapped to my back, but rather under my bed, where it always was when I was not patrolling. But then to my utmost horror, I realized that it was no beast or foe trespassing on my land, but rather it was Sophya, a horribly bloodied and mutilated Sophya, who was kept alive, sustained by a protective shield, she had managed to cast around herself, a shield which I knew would fade; it had been a miracle of Elune that it had lasted long enough and enabled Sophya to run to Astranaar. I felt a cry of horror, of rage rise somewhere in my chest as I ran to her, attempted to carry her back to the house. I could not touch her through the shield. She spoke haltingly, her voice little more than a hoarse whisper, blood oozing from a cut around her throat. My parents were dead, among the first killed by the tauren waiting on the docks for the unsuspecting night elves to disembark from the boat. The tauren's blades killed them quickly and cleanly, they were not tortured, they did not suffer. My sister was still alive, still in Darnassus. Apparently she and my mother had a big argument over something trivial, and my sister had stormed off to stay at a friend's house in the city. Sophya had been captured by not a tauren, but a night elf, a traitorous night elf who had posed as a druid, and allowed the tauren to enter Auberdine for a "cenarion conference". The tauren had laid waste to the entire town, everything ravaged and destroyed. The night elf had wanted Sophya for his concubine, had started to undress her, and cut at her with a dagger when she resisted his advances, had beaten her with his staff. Sophya had prayed to Elune to protect her and she believed that Elune had fortified the simple shield that she had cast about herself. An arrow from a young hunter had distracted her captor, it had not hurt him, had merely startled him, allowed Sophya to run. Sophya remembered glancing behind as her savior was knocked in the head by several tauren and laughed at. She regretted not being able to save him, but she had needed to save her strength….had needed to see me, one last time. And with those words, the shield had faded, leaving Sophya trembling and bloodied in my arms. I did my best for her, laying her in my bed, wrapping her in the linen bandages I had learned how to make, pouring potions made with the peaceblooms she had helped me gather down her throat, forcing her to drink, begging her to live, to stay with me, cursing myself for not following my own desires…perhaps if I had devoted myself more to healing, I would have been able to save her. Even on the brink of death, she seemed able to read my every thought, my every emotion. She whispered for me not to blame myself, that I did more for her than she could ever know, that I had made her life a happy one, her only regret not being able to marry me. She told me to follow my own path, to pursue my own happiness, never again to let the desires of anyone else hold me back. To stay in the light, that beyond shadow there is always light, even now she could see it…and then she left me. Left me sobbing and holding her hand and shivering even though it was a hot summer night. I'm not sure how long I was there, like that, talking to her still, unresponsive form, softly kissing her blood-caked face, wrapping her in a soft blanket, and taking her to one of our favorite spots in the woods, where peacebloom and silverleaf grew and burying her there. It was dawn when I finished, my shovel smoothing down the dirt, wondering deliriously how she would see the light in that black hole, making myself cry for the millionth time, wondering if I will be able to collect the remains of my parents, or if the tauren had defiled them beyond recognition. It was then, and only then that I realized that I had not seen my little brother, not since before Sophya came through the forest. It was then, that I realized he must have wandered off, and I thought of all the bears and beasts lurking in the woods, and it was then, with the realization that I had failed yet another loved one, that I lost consciousness.


End file.
